There are no rules prohibiting women from competing in Formula 1, but you can still count on only two hands the number of times a woman has sat in the cockpit of a race car that boasts the title of being the fastest car in motorsport.
The first was Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman to compete in F1, finishing tenth at the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix. Lella Lombardi was the first woman to score points in the racing series in 1975, while Giovanna Amati was the first woman to score points in F1. Participated in the F1 World Championship in 1992.
Then there’s Susie Wolff, who drove the FW36 in practice for the 2014 German Grand Prix and was the last woman to compete in the famous F1 race weekend. Her fastest lap was just two-tenths slower than teammate and 11-time Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa.
Wolff hung up her helmet in 2015 after admitting she would never be an F1 driver, but her racing spirit has not faded. The former racing driver, who has competed in single-seater championships including Formula Renault, Formula 3 and the German Touring Car Masters (DTM), is now managing director of the F1 Academy, an all-female racing series starting in 2023. Fifteen female drivers will compete across seven circuits throughout the season in the F1 Academy, with the chance to inject the real prospect of F1’s first female world champion into a male-dominated sport.
This weekend, the F1 Academy will serve as F1’s support series for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, with the F1 event expected to attract around 280,000 spectators throughout the weekend. The all-female racing series will not only showcase the talent of up-and-coming racers; with the F1 fan base being 40% female, the F1 Academy is creating a new blueprint for future generations of racers.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really drive positive, impactful change in the sport,” Wolfe said. wealth. “This really feels like the moment we stop talking about it and we’re actually taking action.”
First gear
Wolff has racing in his blood. Her parents, who raced motorcycles, gave Wolfe her first bike when she was two years old. By the time she was eight, Wolfe had traded in two wheels for four and started racing go-karts.
“I’m just passionate about the game, the speed and the adrenaline,” she said.
The passion was there, Wolfe remembers, but her talent didn’t come naturally. She remembers begging her father to take her home during a go-kart race when she couldn’t keep up with the other kids and was pushed around the track.
“We have two choices now,” Wolf remembers her father saying. “Put it back in the truck and we go home, or you go out and try to go faster. When they attack you, you double down on them.
Wolff’s gender became a frequent topic of discussion in the media and among her competitors as she worked her way up from karting, eventually becoming a development driver for the Williams F1 team in 2012. Don’t want this to become a topic.
“In motorsport, your gender doesn’t matter because you’re wearing a helmet,” Wolff said. “What’s important is that you stay on track and perform well.”
This is the philosophy she brings to the F1 Academy, which aims to develop female athletes into the wider world of motorsport, rather than just making the all-female racing series popular. While performance is an essential part of being a competitive athlete, it’s only a small piece of the F1 puzzle.
The barrier to entry in motorsports is high, with hundreds of thousands of dollars required to even get a seat. For women, money is even more of an issue due to a relative lack of opportunity, which puts them under greater pressure to find a financial partner to support their careers. The F1 Academy solves this problem through a series of high-profile partners (Puma, Tommy Hilfiger, Charlotte Tilbury) who help subsidize the costs of drivers competing in the series. Participants will only have to pay €100,000 instead of €600,000.
Engine stalls
There are issues around gender equality in motorsport that Wolff can’t resolve.
“There were definitely days where I felt like the door was slamming in my face and people were telling me, ‘Well, you need to stick your elbows out,'” she said. “But it feels like I’m living beyond my elbows.”
In December 2023, motorsport’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), said it was investigating Wolff after she was accused of conflict of interest. Wolff’s husband Toto is team principal of the Mercedes F1 team and the FIA said it was “aware of media speculation” and the pair exchanged confidential information. The FIA closed its investigation 48 hours later after personnel from nine other F1 teams denied making complaints to the organization.
Wolff subsequently launched a criminal complaint against the FIA in March over the comments made about her, saying: “There continues to be no transparency or accountability for the conduct of the FIA and its personnel in this matter.”
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, F1’s winningest driver and the only black driver in the sport’s 74-year history, praised Wolff: “This is still a male-dominated sport. We We live in a time where, ‘If you complain, you’re going to get fired,'” he said. “It’s a terrible narrative that’s being presented to the world, especially when we’re talking about inclusivity.”
Next is the question of how F1 handles allegations of sexual misconduct. In February, F1 team Red Bull Racing launched an internal investigation into team principal Christian Horner after a female employee alleged “inappropriate conduct”. Horner has repeatedly denied the accusations, despite the leak of a trove of nude photos and illegal text messages containing alleged conversations between him and Red Bull employees.
Although Red Bull dropped the investigation, the spotlight remains on the F1 Academy’s first race a week later, which coincides with International Women’s Day and the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: “Following recent news reports and headlines, “It’s not easy being a woman working in Formula 1,” F1 commentator Laura Winter said during the broadcast.
Wolfe had no comment wealth But she reflected on the challenges she faces as a woman in F1’s boys’ club.
“There were definitely times when I felt frustrated, always being asked about being a woman in motorsport and attending all the panel discussions,” she said. “I feel like I see the same things over and over again. Diversity is something people love to talk about. But very few people actually do anything about it.
full throttle
Even the previous all-women’s single-seater racing series couldn’t generate enough money and influence to stay afloat. The previous version of the F1 Academy, the W Series, entered administration after three seasons in 2023. live streaming.
The F1 Academy has corrected some of these issues. As well as being a support series for F1, each F1 Academy race takes place during an F1 race weekend, with 10 of the series’ 15 drivers wearing the uniforms corresponding to their F1 teams. Drivers will also earn more Super License points for competing in races, a necessary currency to gain access to the motorsport rankings and eventually compete in F1. Its races can be broadcast live on social media and F1’s streaming platform.
If frequent setbacks and failures are one aspect of leading F1’s feeder series, hope is another.
“I can see the impactful changes we are making,” Wolfe said.
F1 Academy Championship leader Abbi Pulling made history in May when she became the first woman to win a British Formula 4 race. Iron Dames, a program supporting female drivers, announced in April that it would support 2023 F1 Academy champion Marta García and current F1 Academy driver Doriane Pin as first-timers competing in the Alpine European regional formula Championship players. Earlier this month, three-time W Series Champion Jamie Chadwick became the third woman to win an Indy NXT match.
When Wolff left the F1 cockpit in 2015, she admitted that women were unlikely to compete in the F1 championship any time soon. Since then she has changed her attitude.
“There’s a lot of good talent out there,” Wolfe said. “If we can develop these talents the right way and give them opportunities, then, let’s hope in the next five or six years.”
